Old Saybrook, Conn., – It’s still an employer’s market out there, according to a recent poll, where a majority of respondents said less than 10 percent of applicants turn down their job offers.

A follow-up poll by the Business & Legal Reports (BLR) website found that, when prospects do reject job offers, money, rather than such other factors as commuting or the nature of the work, is the usual reason.

When asked, “What percentage of applicants ultimately decline job offers at your company?” 70 percent of respondents said less than 10 percent. Another 25 percent said more than 10 percent but less than 25 percent, 3 percent answered between 25 percent and 50 percent, and 2 percent said their job offers are rejected by more than 50 percent of applicants.

The early December poll drew responses from 301 human resources professionals.

The follow-up poll asked, “When applicants decline job offers from your company, what is the most common reason?”

Seventy percent said job offers were rejected because the salary was too low or the applicant took another job for more money. Another 9 percent said job offers were declined because applicants used the offers to leverage more money from their current employers.

Of the 384 people responding to the second poll, 10 percent said the job wasn’t what the applicant thought it would be, 9 percent answered “Other,” and 3 percent said job offers were rejected because of the commute.

“These polls would seem to indicate that workers are still hungry, but not so hungry that they’ll jump at just any job or salary,” said Chris Kilbourne, BLR’s Senior Managing Web Editor.